FORT COLLINS — Three sites on the south section of the Colorado State University campus are being considered as potential spots for a football stadium to replace aging Hughes Stadium.

The three were picked by a subcommittee of the recently formed stadium advisory committee and the CSU master plan committee. The sites were unveiled last week.

All three are about 12 acres and potentially meet criteria spelled out by CSU president Tony Frank: Any new stadium should not intrude on existing open space or interfere with anyone’s view of the mountains.

Frank also said no public funds would be used to build the structure, which could run from $100 million to $200 million.

One site is on West Pitkin Street west of the railroad tracks that run through campus. A second site is a grouping of three separate sites around the Pitkin-Meridian Avenue intersection.

A third site would be where Ingersoll and Edwards halls sit, said Fred Haberecht, CSU’s assistant director for facilities management.

All the areas have potential for redevelopment, Haberecht said, and would also call for the removal of some existing buildings.

“It’s really a question of how intense that development is going to be,” Haberecht said.

A privately funded, 45,000-seat stadium on the CSU campus would boost the university’s profile and generate excitement and more donations, university officials say.

However, critics say the university is overreaching in trying to become a top-echelon sports school.

“The operative question is: How can CSU grow its athletics program to a first-tier Ohio State level?” said Bob Vangermeersch, head of Save Our Stadium, Hughes, in an open letter to CSU athletic director Jack Graham.

“Even if a 45,000 (much too small) seat stadium is completed with ‘private funds’ the taxpayers and students would be ‘on the hook’ for the huge athletics program deficit spending while CSU tries to reach that elite level,” Vangermeersch said.

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